Weight-releasing clock



Mar. 6, 19 23.

S. E. TIDEY. WEIGHT RELEASiNG CLOCK.

FILED Aue.10. 192llVENIg R.

' ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 6, 1923.

ran at SAMUEL E. TIDEY, OF FLORHAM PARK, NEW JERSEY.

WEIG-I-IT-RELEASING CLOCK.

Application filed August 10, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL E. TIDEY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Florham Park, in the county of Morris and State of NewJersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in \Veight-ReleasingClocks, of which the following is a specification.

This invent-ion relates more particularly to weight-releasing clockswhich are employed for operating the dampers of a furnace so as to startthe same at a desired time in the morning, although it will beunderstood that the invention may be used for any purpose to which it isadapted.

The objects of the invention are to provide an improved construction ofsuch a clock in which gearing and an escapement are utilized to reducethe strain of supporting the weight by the releasing mechanism and thusenable it to be more sensitive and durable; to simplify the constructionand operation of such a clock; to render the clock more reliable andeliminate unnecessary movement and action; to enable the clock to beeasily and readily reset after it has gone off or operated; to mountdirectly upon the idle shaft to which the gearing and escapement areconnected a projection or arm fast on said shaft for the attachment ofthe weight; to enable said shaft to turn backward independent of thegearing and escapement for resetting; to secure an inexpensive anddurable construction, and to obtain other advantages and results as maybe brought out by the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals ofreference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a front view of a furnace clock of my improved construction,connected to a damper lever;

Figure 2 is a rear view of the clock under similar conditions;

Figure 3 shows the releasing mechanism of the clock in side elevation,the frame be ing shown in section on the line 3-3 of Figure 4, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the same on line 4-4, Fig. 3.

In said drawings, 1 indicates the upper part of a furnace having a lever2 connected by a chain 3 to a draft or drafts (not shown) to operate thesame upon movement of the lever. A weight 4 upon one end of the leverSerial No. 491,141.

2 causes that end to normally swing downward to start the furnace, and Ihave shown it in F igure 1 held upward by a chain 5 hooked to a furnaceclock 6 of my improved construction hung from the ceiling 7 or otherfixed support. This arrangement is but typical of the numerous ones withwhich my clock can be used, and is shown only for purpose ofillustration. The lever 2 is even unnecessary, since. the chain 5 couldextend to a damper or draft, and I intend both the chain and the leverto be representative of any known system or arrangement of chains orlevers or both chains and levers, or any known damper or draft operatingmechanism to which my improved furnace clock could be applied. Anyapparatus of the sort which can be held in position to damp off afurnace by the chain 5 hooked to a clockoperated release of myconstruction and which will be actuated to start the furnace by releaseof the chain 5 from the clock, is to be considered within the scope ofthis invention. Furthermore, my invention is not restricted to furnaceclocks, but can be used to release other things than drafts and dampers,of any sort or kind whatever to which my invention is applicable.

The construction of my improved release, 35

which is embodied in the clock 6, is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 moreespecially, where 8 indicates the dial holder and 9 a plate mountedthereon by studs 10 and rigidly connected by posts 11 to a spacedparallel plate 12, between which plates the clock works are mounted. Thepinion 13 on the minute hand arbor drives the gear 14 to hich is secureda pinion 15 which drives the hour hand gear 16. Said pinion 15 ment withthe escapement arm 22 and keep said escapement 23 locked until the hourfor which the alarm is set arrives. When the escapement is released thegear 24 is free to be turned by the gear 25 on the shaft 26 engaging thelantern wheel 27 fast on the arbor of the escapement gear 24, and in anordinary alarm clock such turning is effected by a spring wound on thesaid shaft 26. In my improved construction there is no such spring, andthe shaft 26 merely projects through the rear wall 28 of the clock caseand is provided with a fixed arm 29 which is preferably hooked or curvedas shown to receive the chain 5. When the escapement 23 is released andthe shaft 26 is free to turn, the weight or pull through the chain 5upon the arm 29 causes the same to turn or swing downward until thechain slips of and is released. The arm 29 then stops, having movedthrough only about ninety degrees or less, and upon resetting-the deviceit is necessary only to turn the arm backward through those ninetydegrees, or push it upward to its initial position, and hook the chain 5onto said arm again, such backward turning of the shaft 26 beingpermitted by the ratchet wheel 30 and pawl 31 on the shaft and gear 25respectively.

The shaft 26 and connected parts thus turn to a minimum extent by myimproved construction, and no actuating means for turning them isrequired to be embodied in the clock. Simplification of construction andespecially of operationis thus secured and greater durability because ofless movement and strain upon parts.

Obviously various modifications of construction can be made inmanufacturing my improved releasing device, without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention, and I do not wish to be understood asrestricting rnyself except as required by the following claims whenconstrued in light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a weight-releasing clock, the combination of a clock casing, anidle shaft journaled in said casing, a gear connected to said shaft, aradial projection on said shaft outside said clock casing adapted toreceive a weight so as to turn said shaft and gear, an escapement forsaid gear, adetent for said escapement, and clock-work for releasingsaid detent at a predetermined time.

2. In a weight-releasing clock, the combination of a casing, an idleshaft journaled in said casing, a gear connected to said shaft, alateral arm on said shaft outside said clock casing receiving a weightto turn the shaft and adapted by its angular movement to release theweight as the shaft and gear turn, an escapement for said gear, a detentfor said escapement, and clock-work for releasing said detent at apredetermined time.

SAMUEL E. TIDEY.

